The British star appeared with co-stars Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison and director-writer Gavin O’Connor on the black carpet at the Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles.

Hardy and Edgerton spent the almost a year fighting each other in preparation for the film, practicing Brazilian Jui Jitsu, kickboxing, wrestling and boxing training, to make the fight scenes look authentic.

“These guys that do it for real have a very specific way that they trade blows, it’s like speaking a foreign language for me,” said Hardy. “The hardest thing for me was to learn how to move my body in a way that was convincing.”

“At one point, look we all got injured and a lot of punches went through the guard,” Edgerton added.